Adjustable safety razor



P 11, 1951 F. HAUSHALTER 2,567,811

' ADJUSTABLE SAFETY RAZOR Filed Oct. 18, 1945 n INVENTOR. FRED L. HAUSHALTER.

Patented Sept. 11, 1951 UNITED PATENT OFF ICE 2,567,811 nnzTUsrAB E SAFETY RAZOR Fred L. Haushalter, Akron, Ohio ucationoewbu'is, 1945,, Serial No. 623,071

This invention relates to safety razors of the type wherein a flexible bla'de is held between a guard and cap and wherein provision is made for clamping the blade by 'ro'ta'tiono'f the handle or a part thereof with reference to the cap.

One of the objections to the use or safety razors at present available is the fact that no provision is made for adjusting and controlling the extent of flexing of the blade to achieve various degrees of curvature, "but such variation in adjustment is desirable to :control the angle of the cutting edge with reference to the guard. An object of the present invention is to incorporate the guard and handle into a unitary construction, thereby reducing the number of separable parts, and additionally to include in the construction a resilient pre-loa'ding device by means of which the blade may be readily held in any desired degree :of curvature.

The preferred means for carrying out my invention is illustrated in the drawings, 'wherein Fig. 1 is a side view of .a safety razorembodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a section taken longitudinally through the :razor shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an end view of the razor; Fig. '4 is :a section taken on a plane indicated tby the line 44 in 'Fig. '1 but on a scale larger thanthat of Fig. 1 and illustrating the .blade in slightly flexed position; Fig. 5 is a section similar to :Fig. '4 "but showing the blade flexed to a greater extent than appears in Fig. 4, and Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional detail showing the connection between the handle and cap.

I have shown my invention in connection with a razor having a guard 10, .a handle H and a cap l2, with suitable means for positioning a blade I3 between the guard and cap. The handle and guard .constitute a unitary construction, and for suchzpurpose the upper :end of the handle may be rigidly "secured to the guard,

such as by a press fit between the handle and.

a central opening in the guard, or 'by an integral construction of handle and guard.

The handle may be detachably connected to the cap .by the interengagement of a threaded stud l5, which extends downwardly from the cap adjacent the central portion thereof, and 'a threaded socket 16 that is fixed to one end of a stem H. The stem is mounted for rotation within a bore I8 which extends through the handle, and is held against axial movement in one direction with reference to the handle by a shoulder I9 which abuts a complementaryshaped shoulder 20 on the stem.

To effect rotation of the stem 11 with refer- -12 Glaims. (CI. 3072) ence to the handle, the outer end of the stem terminates in a finger grip portion 25 which may be a knurled member attached to the stem by a threaded connection 26. This knurled member may be locked to the stem by means "of a set screw 21. Thus, whenever the finger grip portion 25 is turned with reference to the handle, the threaded stud on the cap may be either engaged or disengaged depending up'on the direction of rotation of the stem.

The threaded stem with its finger grip provides a manual control for the angle which the cutting edge of the blade makes with respect of the guard. To hold the stem in any selected position, I provide a resilient insert between the stem and the handle, preferably in the form of resilient sleeve 30 of rubber-like material which has one end 3| thereof abutting against the handle, and the other end "32 thereof abutting against the stem. Normally the member 25 is tightened sufficiently on the stem I 1 to preload the resilientsleeve to give the desired resistance to turning and then the member is locked to the stem Joy tightening of the set screw 21. The member '30, being under axial compression, thereby exerts a constant pressure upon the stem axially in a manner to force the shoulder l9 against the seat 20, thereby producing sufficient friction to prevent inadvertent turning of the stem while allowing it to be turned manually to produce the desired flexing of the blade. Therefore, the cap may be adjustably held in any desired position, even though the stud l5 may not have entered the socket i6 to'the fullest extent.

.An advantage of the present invention is the fact that when a blade is sharp the cap may be tightened to the maximum extent and then as the blade becomes dull, the angle of the blade edge with respect to the guard may be varied, merely by a slackening off on the connection between the cap and stem. When the cap is tightened against a blade, then-the guard, handle and bushing form an inter-posed strut between the resilient blade and the finger grip, whereby the blade is held automatically in any fixed position which may be given it by the adjustment of a stem. The invention thus greatly increases the number of shaves that can be obtained from a single blade by affording a wide range of angle which the blade makes with reference to the guard. A further advantage of the invention is the fact that the razor comprises a two-part construction, a feature which facilitates handling andcleaning of the razor.

I claim:

1. A safety razor having a guard, a separable cap, and a handle affixed to the guard, the handle having a central bore extending therethrough, a stem disposed within the bore and having a shoulder near one end thereof adapted to abut against the handle, means on the stem adapted to coact with the cap to hold it detachably with respect to the guard, the stem being adapted to project beyond the other end of the handle, a resilient sleeve embracing the projecting end of the stem and having one end thereof abutting against the handle, means carried by the stem and abutting the opposite end of the sleeve, said last named means being adjustable axially with respect to the sleeve so as to preload it, and means for locking the sleeve in preloaded condition.

2. A safety razor having a guard, a handle rigidly attached thereto, a blade cap, the handle having a bore extending axially therethrough and the cap having a threaded stud adapted to project into the bore, a member disposed within the bore and being rotatable therein with respect to the handle, said member having a threaded socket adapted to engage and hold said stud, said member projecting beyond the free end of the handle, a resilient sleeve embracing the stem beyond the end of the handle and having one end thereof abutting the end of the handle, said stem having a shoulder thereon providing an abutment for the other end of said sleeve, said abutment being movable with reference to the stem to pre- -load the resilient sleeve, said preloading being sufficient to exert a frictional resistance against rotation of the member with respect to the handle, whereby the member will remain in any angular position with respect to the handle when turned therein for the purpose of adjusting the cap with respect to the guard.

3. An adjustable safety razor having a guard, a blade cap, and a handle, the handle being affixed to the guard and having a bore extending axially therethrough, a stem disposed within the bore and having means thereon near one end thereof for engaging the cap and adjustably positioning it with respect to the guard, means carried by the handle for preventing the outward movement of the stem and a resilient bushing interposed between a head on the stem and the handle and operating to exert a pressure between the stem head and handle, whereby the cap may be held in any desired position with respect to the guard.

4. An adjustable safety razor having a guard, a hollow handle rigidly attached thereto, a cap, a stem within the handle for detachably connecting the cap to the guard, means independent of the position of the .cap for preventing the outward movement of the stem, a yieldable sleeve embracing the stem and bearing against the handle, and means carriedby the stem for compressing the sleeve so as to exert friction between the stem and handle.

5. A safety razor having a guard, a handle rigidly attached thereto, a cap, a member carried by the guard and rotatably mounted with respect thereto and adapted for detachably connecting the cap to the guard against an interposed blade, a stopping shoulder in the handle preventing the outward movement of said member, a resilient sleeve embracing the member and forming a continuation of the handle, means adjustably carried by the member for compressing the sleeve to vary the frictional resistance of rotation between the member and handle, and a fastener for locking said means and member together and thereby holding the sleeve in predetermined preloaded normal condition.

6. A safety razor having a guard, a blade cap, and ahandle, means for defining the position of a flexible blade between the cap and guard and means carried by the handle and including a resilient sleeve and operable for tightening the cap with respect to the guard so as to flex the blade disposed therebetween, and a stop independent of the cap for preventing the outward movement of the cap tightening means, said guard and handle being held between the flexible blade and the resilient sleeve whereby the blade is held automatically in any flexed position within the range of retention thereof between the blade and guard.

7. A safety razor having a guard, a hollow handle rigidly attached thereto, a cap having a threaded stud adapted to extend into the handle, a rotatable stem within the handle carrying an internal thread adapted to engage the. stud of the cap, the stem having an outwardly extending shoulder beyond an inwardly extending shoulder on the handle to prevent the outward movement of the stem, an outwardly projecting head on the stem beyond the free end of the handle and a spring between said head and handle.

8. In an adjustable safety razor, the combination of a guard, a hollow handle rigidly attached thereto, a cap adapted to overlie a razor blade and having a threaded stud adapted to extend into the handle, a stem rotatably mounted in the hollow handle and having an internally threaded socket at its outer end adapted to receive said stud, said socket having an annular portion at its inner end, the bore of the handle being restricted beyond said threaded socket providing a shoulder adapted to engage the annular end of the socket, a head forming a nut threaded on the outer end of the stem beyond the end of the handle, a resilient bushing surrounding the stem interposed between said head and the end of the handle and means for locking the head in selected adjustment to the stem.

9. A two part adjustable safety razor, one part comprising a cap with a projecting threaded member, the other part comprising a guard, a hollow handle rigid therewith, a stem rotatably mounted in the bore of the handle, means for holding the stem substantially against axial shifting in the bore, said stem carrying a thread coacting with the threaded member on the cap, and a resilient insert between a head on the stem and the handle compressible by rotation of the head.

10. A two-part adjustable safety razor, one part comprising a cap with a projecting threaded member, the other part comprising a guard, a hollow handle rigid therewith, a stem rotatably mounted in the bore of the handle, means for holding the stem substantially against axial shifting in the bore, said stem carrying a thread coacting with the threaded member on the cap,

' a finger grip threaded on the stem overhanging the handle, and a friction producing member between the overhanging portion of the finger grip and the end of the handle, whereby the friction may be increased by screwing the finger grip onto the stem.

11. A two-part adjustable safety razor, one part comprising a cap with a projecting threaded member, the other part comprising a guard, a hollow handle rigid therewith, a stem rotatably mounted the bore of the handle and havin a shoulder overhanging and engaging a shoulder on the handle, said shoulders providing means for holding the stem substantially against outward axial shifting in the bore of the handle, said stem carrying a thread coacting with the threaded member on the cap, and adjustable means mounted on the stem for varying the friction between the stem and handle.

12. An adjustable safety razor having a guard, a handle carried thereby, a cap, means carried by the handle and detachably connected to the cap for drawing the cap toward the guard so as to hold a blade therebetween, a stop on the handle coacting with said means to prevent outward movement of said means, and a yieldable resistance producer pressing axially outward between said means and another stop carried by the handle, whereby the cap may be held in any position within the range of adjustment of it with reference to the guard.

FRED L. HAUSHALTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patenti UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Number Name Date 1,755,726 Conill Apr. 22, 1930 1,888,962 Swan Sept. 17, 1931 1,928,886 Garretson Oct. 3, 1933 1,951,688 Adams Mar. 20, 1934 15 1,956,510 Long Apr. 24, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 326,427 Great Britain Mar. 13, 1930 

